My warranty has expired!

Who hasn't received countless notices in the mail that the warranty on their car has expired and they need to extend it immediately before it goes up in smoke like a "Mission Impossible" tape? Worse yet are the phone calls -- always at supper time or during an exciting episode of Jeopardy -- with a recorded message breathlessly telling me it's their final notice. I should be so lucky. My car is a 2003 model and has been out of warranty for some time now. Since the mailings mention the model and year they know that too. One harassed fellow citizen pretty much lost it over one of these scams.Though threatening to touch a match to the offender's place of business seems a might harsh, I can't say similar thoughts haven't occasionally crossed my mind. Now the poor soul is in the slammer on a terrorism charge. If there was ever a time for the court to show some mercy this is it.

It's difficult to imagine that enough people fall for this pitch too cover the marketing expenses. It's even harder to imagine any subscriber actually recovering even a small portion of covered repair costs. It might be interesting to request a sample contract and peruse the fine print.

I recall a news item a few years back exposing the fact that our DMV sold auto registration data lists to marketing firms. Who on Earth would think that was a good idea? Public servants my foot. Then they set up a state "Do not call list" to stem the barrage of telemarketing calls. Geez!

Many of these hucksters have given up on the car owners and moved on to helping people suffering from mortgage and credit card stress. They are implying that they have Federal stimulus money to pass around. At least we can't accuse these bottom feeders of lazing around sucking up unemployment money. But then maybe they are. Sitting at home dialing the phone while collecting unemployment compensation and food stamps, etc.

Sadly these lowlifes tend to target senior citizens that are often overly trusting and easily coerced. Even eager to avoid offending the caller. Think of that the next time the phone rings. Maybe even make a list of things to say AND NOT SAY during the call. The best thing to do is just hang up. Don't worry about the caller feeling rejected. They'll get over it.